The present invention relates to anti-vibration mountings having a clip-fit connection means and vehicles fitted with such mountings.
Of the various types of anti-vibration mountings, the invention more specifically relates to those which have first and second rigid frames, which can be joined respectively to two rigid elements to be connected, an elastomer body linking the two frames to one another and being designed to support a permanent axial load along a first axis, the elastomer body being joined to a sleeve fitted on a mounting bar belonging to the first frame and extending along a second axis substantially perpendicular to the first axis.
In known devices of this type, the mounting bar is generally inserted by force inside a sleeve, the interior of which is lined with elastomer. Due to the friction caused by movement when the mounting bar is inserted in the sleeve, antagonistic forces occur (known as spring back) which have a tendency to allow movement relative to the central axis inside its bore, which causes these components to become incorrectly positioned and, in extreme cases, may lead to uncoupling from the central axis of its mounting. The forces produced during dismantling are much lower than those applied when assembling the components.
In order to limit this risk, the mountings known from the prior art are made with severe manufacturing tolerances, which on the one hand affect the cost of manufacturing these components and on the other lead to a more limited permissible load.
Accordingly, the objective of the present invention is to alleviate the drawbacks of the solutions known from the prior art by proposing an anti-vibration mounting which makes it virtually impossible to uncouple the sleeve relative to the mounting bar, the mechanical assembly between the first element and the second element also being provided by connecting means of a simple design which is easy to produce at a lesser cost using mass production techniques.
To this end, the anti-vibration mounting proposed by the invention is characterised in that the sleeve is retained on the bar by a clip-fit connection.
One and/or the other of the following features may be incorporated in advantageous embodiments:
the sleeve has an end piece of a truncated cone shape provided with a plurality of flexible tabs which clip onto the mounting bar;
the free ends of the flexible tabs abut against a projection protruding radially relative to the mounting bar;
there are at least three flexible tabs;
there are four flexible tabs;
the sleeve is made from a plastics material;
the plastics sleeve is reinforced by a metal insert;
the elastomer body has zones forming stops along the first axis and in a direction perpendicular to the first and second axes in order to restrict the extent of relative movements between the first and second frames;
a ridge manufactured in one piece with the mounting bar fits between each flexible tab, avoiding any rotary movement between the first and second frames;
the elastomer body is surrounded by the second frame.
The invention also relates to a motor vehicle having an engine joined to a body by at least one anti-vibration mounting of the type outlined above, the first axis being vertical and the second axis being horizontal.